The long and the short of this review is go and buy By The Horns #4 because it’s absolutely brilliant.
The creative team are pushing out some of the best comics they’ve done with this series (which if you know how much I loved their previous series Voracious then you’ll understand the praise in that statement). Markisan Naso, Jason Muhr, and Andrei Tabacaru (writer, artist, and colorist respectively) are working together with a level of synchronicity that you usually only see with teams that have working together for a lot longer than these folks have been.
By The Horns #4 is effectively a full comic full of nothing but a battle between Elodie, her companions and Pazuzunox and the creatures under the wizard’s control. With the majority of the comic being dedicated to the battle, there’s a lot of opportunity for Jason Muhr to show off his skills – and he does that so incredibly well. There isn’t a single panel where the action doesn’t flow seamlessly across the page, and despite the chances for an odd slip here or there Muhr’s visual story telling is a highlight of the comic. Of course, were it not for Tabacaru bringing a grim pop to the proceedings then the pages wouldn’t have the character that they do.
Naso has a lot of work to do in order to live up to the visuals of this book, and it’s a goal that he scores. Amidst the chaos he finds ways to add a dry joke or two, but he never sways into full comedy. In fact for a good chunk of the book he keeps the text to a relative minimum and lets the art speak for itself which shows a level of confidence in the artists that I love to see reflected on the page.
Because the surface of By The Horns #4 is effectively a concentrated battle there’s not a lot to say about this book without delving too far into spoiler territory as you don’t really see a break in the action from start to finish – that being said, I’ve found that Evelyn the giant eyeball is quickly becoming a character that I need to see more of (pun intended).
Overall, By The Horns #4 is another check in the win column for this exciting creative team. The series was just picked up as an ongoing by Scout and I’m not at all surprised because the quality of the comics; Naso, Muhr and Tabacaru deserve all the success with this series.
Story: Markisan Naso Art/Lettering: Jason Muhr Colors: Andrei Tabacaru
Story: 9.7 Art: 9.8 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy
Scout Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Scout Comics
Related
Source: Graphic Policy
